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Jaws

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Jaws (1975)

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Reviews Counted:37

Fresh:37

Rotten:0

Average Rating:8.8/10

Consensus: Jaws remains tense by not showing audiences the shark for the majority of the film, so that when it does, viewers jump out of their seats.

Rated: PG

Runtime: 2 hrs 5 mins

Genre: Horror/Suspense

Theatrical Release:Jun 20, 1975 Wide

Synopsis: From the best-selling novel by Peter Benchley, Steven Spielberg directed this thrill ride of terror. During the height of beach season, the Massachusetts resort town of Amity Island is terrorized... From the best-selling novel by Peter Benchley, Steven Spielberg directed this thrill ride of terror. During the height of beach season, the Massachusetts resort town of Amity Island is terrorized one summer by surprise attacks from a great white shark. Three unlikely partners team up to hunt down the rogue and destroy it: the new chief of police from New York (Roy Scheider), a young university-educated oceanographer (Richard Dreyfuss), and a crusty old-time fisherman (Robert Shaw). The film shoot was notoriously difficult for the young Spielberg, who had directed only one feature film before JAWS. The mechanical shark seldom operated correctly, and Spielberg was frequently forced to create the idea of terror without actually showing the shark. However, after the film premiered it went on to become the highest-grossing film of all time--surpassing THE GODFATHER and becoming the first film to gross more than a hundred million dollars. Composer John Williams created the score to JAWS, which has since become a well-known theme of impending doom. Ron and Valerie Taylor were responsible for filming live sharks in Australia; their sequences were later mixed with footage of the mechanical shark. [More]

Starring: Roy Scheider, Richard Dreyfuss, Robert Shaw, Lorraine Gary

Starring: Roy Scheider, Richard Dreyfuss, Robert Shaw, Lorraine Gary, Murray Hamilton, Carl Gottlieb, Jay Mello, Lee Fierro, Jeffrey Kramer, Susan Backlinie, Jonathan Filley

Director: Steven Spielberg

Director: Steven Spielberg
Screenwriter: Carl Gottlieb, Peter Benchley, Howard Sackler
Producer: Richard D. Zanuck, David Brown
Composer: John Williams
Studio: Universal Pictures

[See More Credits]

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Release:

Jun 14, 2005

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Reviews for Jaws

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1 - 20 (sorted by date)
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To be brief and to the point, the GREATEST FILM EVER MADE! Thank you for your time.

Full Review Source: Nolan's Pop Culture Review | comment Comment
01/07/10
Michael A. Smith
Michael A. Smith
Nolan's Pop Culture Review

Simply put, Jaws turned the tide of American cinema: irrevocably, and not for the better.

Full Review Source: City Pages, Minneapolis/St. Paul | comment 2 Comments
08/20/09
Rob Nelson
Rob Nelson
City Pages, Minneapolis/St. Paul

In the end, the shark is a MacGuffin necessary for the men to bond and test themselves against what they fear most--their own mortality.

Full Review Source: ColeSmithey.com | comment Comment
05/12/09
Cole Smithey
Cole Smithey
ColeSmithey.com

Spielberg works self-effacingly, with subtly correct camera placement and meticulous editing. He twists our guts with false alarms, giving us the real thing with heart-stopping suddenness.

Full Review Source: TIME Magazine | comment 1 Comment
10/16/08
TIME Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A looming, terrifying catch of the day.

Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | comment Comment
09/24/07
TV Guide's Movie Guide
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A classic. Tense, engrossing, scary and, subsequently, endlessly influential.

Full Review Source: Film4 | comment Comment
09/24/07
Film4
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Like all the best suspense films, "Jaws" manages to somehow remain amazingly tense, even if you've seen the film before. No wonder so many moviegoers went back for repeat viewings.

Full Review Source: Kalamazoo Gazette | comment Comment
07/27/07
James Sanford
James Sanford
Kalamazoo Gazette

Steven Spielberg's mechanical thriller is guaranteed to make you scream on schedule.

Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | comment Comment
06/27/07
Dave Kehr
Dave Kehr
Chicago Reader
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The fast-moving 124-minute film engenders enormous suspense as the shark attacks a succession of people.

Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
06/27/07
A.D. Murphy
A.D. Murphy
Variety
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A reminder that, once upon a time, Spielberg used to make films for adults rather than infants and critical regressives.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment 4 Comments
06/24/06
Geoff Andrew
Geoff Andrew
Time Out

A true film of the 70s, all its characters have feet of clay… Yet Jaws boldly puts [them] to a test as dire as any faced by the granite-jawed supermen of earlier decades.

Full Review Source: Decent Films Guide | comment Comment
02/11/06
Steven D. Greydanus
Steven D. Greydanus
Decent Films Guide

Achieves a number of cheap thrills at the expense of the mechanical shark.

Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews | comment 4 Comments
07/03/05
Dennis Schwartz
Dennis Schwartz
Ozus' World Movie Reviews

Along with being a terrific character-driven (not plot) thriller, Jaws should be viewed against the broader context of 1975 as part of a cycle of paranoia films, reflecting the Vietnam War, Watergate scandal, anti-authoritarianism, and political apathy

Full Review Source: EmanuelLevy.Com | comment Comment
06/26/05
Emanuel Levy
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com

Nowadays, it doesn't really scare me anymore, but I love watching it for the way it moves.

Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid | comment 3 Comments
06/24/05
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Combustible Celluloid

The first calculated summertime blockbuster...A whale of big-budget Hollywood entertainment.

Full Review Source: Boulder Weekly | comment Comment
06/17/05
Thomas Delapa
Thomas Delapa
Boulder Weekly

Jaws' formula has become a facsimiled equation for profit, of which the opening is the preeminent, telling feature.

Full Review Source: Not Coming to a Theater Near You | comment Comment
06/26/03
Rumsey Taylor
Rumsey Taylor
Not Coming to a Theater Near You

One of the greatest horror films made. The opening sequence is not only a classic, it's still frightening nearly three decades after it was made.

comment Comment
05/02/03
Forrest Hartman
Forrest Hartman
Reno Gazette-Journal

It just might be one of the very best movies ever made.

comment Comment
04/28/03
Blake Davis
Blake Davis
KFOR Channel 4 News

No review available.

comment Comment
02/16/03
Ken Hanke
Ken Hanke
Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

When it comes to this kind of thriller, no movie has been able to top Jaws, although many have tried. And, as the years go by, it seems increasingly unlikely that anything will come close.

Full Review Source: ReelViews | comment Comment
12/12/02
James Berardinelli
James Berardinelli
ReelViews
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date)
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